Hope

By: Kiki Peppard, Reiki Master/Teacher

As a Reiki Master/Teacher who has been actively practicing for the last 7 years, I have seen many incredible healings and miracles. The most amazing thing I have experienced is Hope. Not having hope – but meeting Hope.

When I began practicing Reiki, my children thought the healing process was totally awesome. They wondered why I just didn’t go around doing Reiki to everyone who needed it. I explained to them that we just do go around “doing” anything that isn’t asked for, as it would be very depleting both emotionally and physically. I further explained the necessity of someone having to request a session for his or her well being thus creating a more open experience for both parties. We also discussed in detail the need for an exchange or compensation for a Reiki session.

My adult son, who had been suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis since age 11, benefited greatly from receiving Reiki treatments. While it didn’t always take away his pain, his ability to cope with his symptoms increased tremendously. It was he who broke the rule of going out and offering Reiki to someone who needed it. One day he called me on the phone and frantically said, “look Mom, I know I’m not supposed to tell people they have to get a Reiki treatment but you have to see this woman right away! I’m sending her right over and you have to help her!!!!” I could tell by the panic in his voice that something serious was going on that required urgent attention.

Immediately thereafter, a woman appeared at my door gasping for breath. Wheezing between every word she said, “Your son sent me for you to fix me up”. “Can you help me breathe?” Naturally, the first words out of my mouth were, “did you call your doctor?” With a heavy Bronx accent and struggling for air, she slowly began to tell me her story. She was my new neighbor who moved in with her husband and two children. My son had just stopped by to introduce himself and to offer to mow their lawn when he witnessed her breathing distress. Upon reflection, I can tell you it was no coincidence that he stopped by at that particular moment to welcome them to the neighborhood. She presented me with a laundry list of medical conditions: asthma, allergies, sinus problems, back pain and she was diabetic. When I asked her what her doctor told her when she called about her breathing problems she said, “he told me I couldn’t take any medication—it would hurt the baby”. She wasn’t showing yet, but this 35-year-old woman was also 8 weeks pregnant. Once again, she wheezed, “can you help me breathe – your son said you would help me”.

I love my son dearly, but I felt he over estimated the power of Reiki and it’s effect on people. I soon learned that I was wrong – my son knew better than I did this time.

I sat her down and explained that Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing technique this is used for stress reduction, relaxation and the promotion of healing. In desperation, she said, “do whatever you gotta do but you gotta help me breathe”. While she sat in a backless chair, I did Reiki on this woman for the first of many times. I concentrated on her lungs and then slowly worked my way to the other areas of her body. As we talked during the session, she told me her name was Hope. Some how I knew Hope and I were destined to have this baby together. At the end of our first session, which lasted only 30 minutes, Hope was breathing normally. Stunned at the realization that she was no longer wheezing and gasping for air but breathing normally, she asked, “What the heck did you do to me?”

“I did what you needed”, I replied.

When she left that day, she was astounded that a woman she didn’t even know waved her hands around her body and took away her asthma attack. I knew that she would require frequent sessions but initially hesitated suggesting it. Since I couldn’t get Hope and her unborn child out of my mind, I called her a week later. I figured my son had already broken the “rule” so why not me too. I explained to her that I felt more sessions were needed during the course of the pregnancy. She was worried, of course, about my fee. I asked her if she possessed a talent that I surely lacked – “can you cook?” “I’m the best”, she said. “Very well, you feed my son and I’ll take care of you and your baby”. It was a deal – we created an exchange.

Every two weeks Hope would come over for a Reiki session. Even her doctors were amazed that she had no asthma complaints or attacks without taking any medication. Knowing that the medical community was not yet ready to hear of her “remedy”, she quietly kept this healing secret to herself.

Twelve weeks into her pregnancy, Hope and her husband Dave got some very bad news. The sonogram revealed that the baby had fluid in the brain. They explained it as some type of “mass”. Her doctors gave them the news that the fluid in the brain is something they typically see in babies with Down Syndrome. Naturally, Hope was in tears when she arrived for her next session. She pleaded with me, “Can this Reiki stuff heal the baby?” “Reiki heals what needs to be healed”, I told her. “I can’t promise you that continued sessions will heal your baby. I will tell you that your baby is affected by the healing energy”. We had a lengthy discussion of the differences between “healing” and “curing”. A difficult concept but despite her grief and distress, she understood what I meant. I further explained that Reiki may not cure all illnesses, diseases or symptoms but it can help you cope.

Hope explained it back to me as, “it’s like you are healing the mind and then the mind heals the body right?” “It’s like it helps you to calm down way inside”. Yes, it does, I told her. I continued to work on her and her baby. Looming in her mind was the picture of the sonogram that she hid in her bedroom drawer as if hiding from the truth of the inevitable. How would she cope? She had two children at home and a wonderful husband, but was she ready for this?

Yes, the sessions helped to calm Hope. She did not have any breathing difficulties throughout this entire pregnancy and for the first time in her life was not taking medication for her asthma. If she felt something coming on, we just scheduled some Reiki sessions to deal with it. This in itself was truly a miracle.

Another miracle happened when she had a second sonogram at 22 weeks. Comparing the two photographs side by side, the doctors were bewildered when they discovered that the fluid in the baby’s brain was gone, there was no mass, and no indication of any abnormality at all. Inside Hope knew what healed her baby but she couldn’t share that as she knew she would be scoffed at by her doctor. It didn’t matter – her baby was fine and normal!!!!

As the delivery date neared, Hope faced memories of her last cesarean section. Those memories were full of fear and pain. She became increasingly anxious, as the day grew closer. I promised her a session the day before her scheduled c-section that would calm her down. She wished there was a way for me to be in the delivery room with her but that wasn’t possible for both of us. When I explained to her that I would do “long distance” Reiki at the moment of her delivery – she gave me the same look of disbelief when we had first met on that breathless day 7 months earlier. By this time, we had developed a close friendship. She had learned to trust in me and in Reiki. I asked her the scheduled time of her procedure and began utilizing the long distance Reiki symbol at that precise moment of delivery.

Hope reported back to me the most uneventful c-section. She had an epidural and was quite awake and alert during the whole procedure. Her girlfriend had accompanied her and the two women chatted casually until Hope alerted her doctors that she was beginning to feel a tugging sensation. “We’re taking your baby out now,” they told her. She was totally surprised. She had no idea the procedure had escalated to that point. She had been so calm and so relaxed during that time that her fears and apprehension were nonexistent. “It’s that Reiki”, she whispered to her friend, “and I know Kiki is working on me right now – I just know it”. And I was.

On October 8, 2001, Joseph arrived into this world. A healthy boy! Naturally Hope and I kept in touch after the birth. She told me that Joseph was the calmest baby she had ever seen. “Must be full of that Reiki”, she commented. One day she called for a session. Unfortunately, she’d developed an abscess in her incision. She was scheduled for an appointment the next day to have it excised at the doctor’s office. I went over to her home, did Reiki on the wound and told her to put a warm compress on it to give her comfort. That night it drained on its own. By the time she got to the doctor, the abscess had already healed to the point that they couldn’t find the site of the origin of the drainage.

Three weeks after Joseph’s arrival, he developed a terrible case of constipation and was in severe discomfort with gas and cramps. When I did Reiki on his taut belly, I felt him take in the energy very quickly. I only had to work on him a short time. No sooner that I got back home that Hope called to say that Joseph was totally relieved and was moving his bowels. I’m glad to say he’s never had any gastrointestinal problems since.

Since this experience, I have had the pleasure of working on other pregnant women. Recently at a health and wellness fair, my colleague had performed Reiki on a pregnant woman. She loved the experience. Shortly thereafter another pregnant woman had approached me. She said, “My friend sent me over. She said this is the coolest thing for the baby because the baby seems to follow the energy in the Reiki practitioner’s hands”. Sure enough, this woman’s baby became very active as soon as the session started and seemed to migrate to wherever my hand was.

Each time I perform Reiki, I am constantly humbled by the amazing miracles that occur with each session. My only wish is that more people will open their minds, hearts and spirits to this wonderful healing modality.

Kiki is in Effort, Pennsylvania Phone:(570) 629-6793

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